Watch Your Mouth!

Deceiving your customers just got illegal … at least in the U.K., where word-of-mouth marketing is about to face a major crack-down.

According to Advertising Age, beginning May 26, “it will become a criminal offense for brands to seed positive messages online without making the origin of the message clear … The rules make it an offense to blog, use brand ambassadors or seed viral ads while ‘falsely representing oneself as a consumer.’”

But every brand needs a big mouth behind it. The New York Times recently published an article about the new ways younger audiences are receiving information, transforming themselves from merely consumers to conduits of information and advice. This social filter – which includes blogs, message boards, texts and social networks – is simply a technological, “social media generational” version of the oldest marketing tool out there, said Jane Buckingham, founder of market research company the Intelligence Group, in the article.

And according to a new report from brand research company Millward Brown, online communities, blogs and message boards are actually the most likely sources of negative opinions about a brand. So it’s really no wonder companies are so desperate to spread a positive word online.

How desperate? Remember Sony’s “All I Want for Christmas is a PSP” viral? In Ad Age’s most prominent example, the company pushed buzz marketing too far with its campaign that combined “amateur” video footage with a blog supposedly written by a friend of the video’s character. “When consumers discovered the campaign had been masterminded by Sony and its agency, Zipatoni, there was a huge backlash and a formal apology from Sony.”   

Here in the U.S., let’s hope self-regulation prevents the government from getting involved. But until then, try creating quality products/services so you don’t have to brag about yourself or pay people to do it!

Posted by Kate Patton